


Mary Ann McGarrett, Age Nine-and-Three-Quarters

by dogeared



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-19
Updated: 2011-01-19
Packaged: 2017-10-21 21:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/229992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogeared/pseuds/dogeared
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was exactly where she belonged.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mary Ann McGarrett, Age Nine-and-Three-Quarters

Mary Ann knew that her neighborhood was the best place in the whole world. She could ride her bike in one direction and get to her own secret beach, the one where, if she was really lucky, she might find a shiny whole cowrie shell to add to the collection lined up on her windowsill, or she could ride in the other direction and peek at the fancy pool with the banana tree hanging over the deep end, where it was always so green and so quiet that it felt a little bit magical. Ms. Han gave her extra books at the library when she checked out more Sherlock Holmes stories, and Mr. Uenishi would give her a free lemon-lime soda if she waited out an afternoon rainstorm in his shop. There was wild ginger growing right in their backyard, flowers like red flames, and from her bedroom window, she could spy on the pair of cardinals who had a nest in their neighbor's tree.

The fourth grade girls brought their bikes to her when the gears were gummed up with sand, because she could fix them like new, and the fifth grade boys begged her to pass notes to the girls who didn't want to talk to them, because she knew how to fix that, too. On Saturday mornings, she'd sneak into Steve's room and poke him until he yelled at her to stop and she fell over laughing at his stupid hair and the pillow creases on his face. He complained about it every time, but he still always walked to the outdoor market with her anyway. You had to get there early to get the doughnuts with the custard inside, and they'd share one, fingers sticky, before they raced back home. If Steve let her have the bigger half, sometimes she'd let him win.

When she turned ten (only three months away!), she was finally going to get her very own surfboard, and Mamo was going to teach her how to ride. For her twelfth birthday, she thought she might ask her dad to take her to Kilauea, because she had a piece of lava from there, round and smooth where it wasn't pock-marked with holes, and she wanted to see where it had come from, even if it was dangerous. And one day, when she was old enough, she was going to sail around every one of the islands in her very own boat. But even without seeing the other islands, she knew that Oahu had to be the best one of all—that there couldn't be a better place than her favorite shady spot under their hammock. That she was exactly, exactly where she belonged.


End file.
